Configuring Usage Decisions

As Application Consultant, you configure usage decision codes in the customizing of SAP S/4HANA. Play the video to get introduced to the configuration tasks.

The following figure shows an example of a list of code groups and codes with possible usage decision codes. The codes are grouped together into two selected sets. The first set contains codes used for inspection lots from procurement. The second set contains codes used for inspection lots from production.

As an Application Consultant, you are responsible for defining codes and code groups for usage decisions in catalog type 3. Unlike in R/3, UD codes are considered configuration objects, so they must be defined in Customizing (IMG: Quality Management → Quality Inspection → Inspection Lot Completion → Edit Code Groups and Codes for Usage Decisions and Edit Selected Sets for Usage Decisions).

In this example, two code groups have been defined. The first code group includes all variants of acceptance (such as accepted, accepted with minor deviations, etc.), while the second code group includes all variants of rejection (such as rejected, rejected - rework required, etc.). To use these codes for making a usage decision, they must be grouped in selected sets and also assigned a valuation. In this example, there are two selected sets: the first one is used by default for goods receipt inspections of procured materials, and the second one is used for goods receipt inspections from production. It's important to note two things:

• In a selected set, the Application Consultant combines codes from multiple code groups. For example, the code Accepted with minor deviations is maintained in the code group Accepted, and the code Rejected - Rework required is maintained in the code group Rejected.

• A selected set does not need to contain all codes. You can limit the codes required for the business process, allowing the Quality Engineer to select from a list of reasonable codes.

The following two images demonstrate how to maintain a selected set for the usage decision:

In this example, the Application Consultant defines several selected sets in step 1. Each selected set exists in plant 1010 and is used in a different business process, such as Goods Receipt (→ 01), Goods Issue (→ 02), Production (→ 03), and more. For each selected set, a default code group and code are defined in step 2. The system will use this code when the user makes a Quick Usage Decision in the Manage Usage Decisions app. To add codes to the selected set, the user selects a line item and opens the folder on the left in step 3.

The Application Consultant has added a list of codes from catalog type 3 to the selected set 01 Goods Receipt (step 1). For each code, they must enter a valuation (Accepted or Rejected; step 2). In step 3, they assign a quality score (a value between 1 and 100). This quality score will be used if the Quality Planner, defined in the inspection type in the material master, determines that the quality score during usage decision originates from the selected UD code. In the final step (step 4), the Application Consultant can assign a movement type, which the system will use for the posting proposal and the automated goods posting when the Quality Engineer saves the usage decision. To enable automatic goods posting, also set the Background indicator, which is not displayed in the screenshot.

Let's consider two examples:

1. The first entry pertains to code A - Accept. This code is valuated as accepted in plant 1010. It has a quality score of 100 points (the highest grade) and automatically moves the inspection lot stock to unrestricted use stock.
2. The entry R - Rejected is valuated as rejected in plant 1010. It has the lowest possible quality score (1 point) and there will be no automated goods movement when the Quality Engineer uses this code. Consequently, the stock controlled by the inspection lot will not be automatically moved out of the quality inspection stock and will remain there until the Quality Engineer explicitly makes a stock posting in the Manage Usage Decision app.

Additionally, the Application Consultant can assign a follow-up action (for example, send an email, change a status, etc.) that the system will automatically execute together with the usage decision.

Let's delve deeper into the automatic stock posting at usage decision. There are two alternative approaches:

• The system proposes the stock transfer.

  To use this approach, select a value in the field Posting in U" and do not flag the Background field. When the Quality Engineer makes a usage decision, they select a button that proposes moving the inspection lot quantity to the selected stock type. If necessary, the proposed quantities can be changed, for example, if a quantity split is required for unrestricted use stock, sample consumption, blocked stock, etc.

• The system automatically performs the stock transfer.

  To use this approach, select a value in the field Posting in UD and flag the Background field. When the Quality Engineer makes a usage decision, the system automatically moves the entire lot quantity to the selected stock type. This transfer posting cannot be prevented, and no authorization is required for it.

If you use your own movement types, the Application Consultant can assign them to the posting proposal in Customizing (IMG: Quality Management → Quality Inspection → Inspection Lot Completion → Define Inventory Postings).

Implementing automated usage decisions in can significantly streamline quality inspection processes by efficiently handling inspection lots that are either skipped or found to have no problems. By automating this aspect of quality management, you can reduce the manual workload of Quality Engineers, allowing them to focus on more critical tasks that require their expertise and judgement. The following image shows two examples:

When automating the usage decision, we consider two scenarios:

• Skipped inspection lots: By default, inspection lots that are skipped bypass quality inspection to save costs and effort. However, the system still creates these lots to allow for an unplanned quality inspection if necessary.

  In the upper section of the image, the automated usage decision for a lot in skip status is shown. For example, the system creates the lot at 7:45 when the goods receipt for the purchase order item is posted. To allow for an unplanned quality inspection, the Application Consultant has defined a delay time of 60 minutes for skip lots. Therefore, the earliest possible time for the automated usage decision is 8:45. Since the automated usage decision is performed by a periodically running job with a 1-hour interval, running at the full hour, the system performs the automated usage decision at 9:00.

• Inspection lots without rejected characteristics and/or defects: For these lots, a regular quality inspection has been performed. However, the lot quantity is acceptable, meaning:

  • No inspection characteristic was rejected.

  • All required inspection characteristics were confirmed and completed.

  • There are no defect records or quality notifications for the inspection lot.

  This scenario is displayed in the lower section. The lot was created at some point in the past. The last result was recorded, completed, and evaluated at 7:45. The Application Consultant has defined a waiting time of 1 hour, so the earliest possible time for the automated usage decision is 8:45. Since the automated usage decision is performed by a periodically running job with a 1-hour interval, running at the full hour, the system performs the automated usage decision at 9:00.

To configure automated usage decisions, the following steps are required:

• The Application Consultants defines the waiting time and the delay time for the plant in customizing (IMG: Quality Management → Quality Inspection → Inspection Lot Completion → Plan Automatic Usage Decision).

• The Application Consultant defines one or more job variants in the app Schedule Automatic Usage Decision. Here, they specify the plant, the inspection type, whether the job applies for skipped lots, for completed lots, or for both types of lots. Also, they define a default UD code.

  Hint

  Use a UD code that automatically performs stock posting. Otherwise, the inspection lot stock stays in quality inspection, requiring an additional manual step.

• The Quality Planner enables Automatic UD in the inspection type settings in the material master.

The system documents the automatic usage decision in the long text for the usage decision.

For the second scenario, the system offers a technical alternative that functions slightly differently: You can specify that an immediate usage decision is made directly after recording the results. This approach has the advantage of not having to wait until the next job run to automatically perform the usage decision. To use this function, the Application Consultant must enable the settings described in the Application Help.

Inspection lots for production orders (inspection lot origin 03) are a special case. The Quality Engineer or Production Supervisor must make formal decisions for these inspection lots, once the orders have been completed (even though these usage decisions have no bearing on the use of the lot quantity since lots of origin 03 are not stock relevant). These formal usage decisions only update the status of the inspection lots, so that they can be identified as completed and ready for archiving. The evaluation of inspection results does not play a part in this type of automatic usage decision. To plan and execute a respective job, use the app Schedule Automatic Usage Decision for Production.